First of the Last

There is seriously so much to be thankful for!

1. Celebrating the beginning of a new school year with CCM brothers & sisters by going bowling.
2. Celebrating a dear sister's 21st birthday, God's 21 years+ of faithfulness to her, and trying (but failing) to be sneaky in order to surprise her.
3. The first day of Fall (my second favorite season!) this past Sunday and ushering in sweater weather, scarf season (yeee!), and all foods pumpkin, cinnamon, and brown sugar flavored.
4. Today is the first day of classes back at UC Irvine and campus is bustling with life and energy as clubs continue to booth and students scurry on to their respective classes.
5. But probably most exciting of all is (drumroll, please): today is my last ever first day of undergraduate life! Praise the Lord that I was able to wake up early and spend some time in prayer and His Word before the day started. I am incredibly nervous and excited (but more so nervous) for what this year will bring and what God will do. 21 MORE WEEKS BEFORE I GRADUATE! o:

And to celebrate such wonderful happenings, I baked some chocolate chip cookies and brewed some of Trader Joe's amazingly delicious Pumpkin Spice Coffee! No more running to Starbucks or Peet's for Pumpkin Spice Lattes and shelling out at least $4 per drink -- yay for yumminess and frugality!

I am looking forward to many things this year, one of them being that I might take full advantage of being surrounded by non-Christians on campus and share the Gospel with them. In my first class, I was able to share with my introduction partner about going to Honduras while we shared our recent summer vacations. How cool, right? I can already see how God is making available countless opportunities to share His love and it's only the first day! I pray that I might grow a greater heart for UCI this year. There are so many lost souls that desperately need to hear of God's great love and mercy! I hope to not take such opportunities for granted and really take the time to invest in my non-believing friends. Please keep me accountable! :o)

"Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!" [Psalm 65:4]

Three posts in one day!

I'm on a blogging spree today!

After blogging twice today (prior to this), I've decided to start blogging again for my last year of college. Hopefully I don't abandon ship (unlike years past) and stick to it! Senior year of college is worth documenting after all. But more so than that, here is my reason for documenting my last year of undergraduate life.

College has been a tremendously blessed time. In coming to Irvine, I didn't really know what to expect. My freshman year was definitely challenging. I spent the first quarter of my college life without any solid resolve to do well in school or even to pursue Christ. All I could see then was my newfound "freedom" that came with being away from home for the first time. But God has been gracious and faithful -- He was then and He still is now! For the past three years, I've come to see His sovereign hand at work in my life and get a glimpse of His purposes for placing me where He has placed me today. If God hadn't closed all those other college doors, I never would have come to Irvine. And although I am aware that God could have turned my heart towards Him regardless of whether I came to Irvine or not, He graciously pulled me away from all the ambitions I had placed my faith and hope in to show me the full joy of a placing my faith and hope in Christ alone. I am simply at awe and abundantly thankful that He placed me here, where I am privileged to attend a solid Scripture-based, Christ-centered church, be part of a fellowship that is dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ on campus, and know brothers and sisters who are daily examples of what it means to exhaust one's life for the sake and joy of Christ.

Sucha good-lookin' and warm-hearted buncha peeps! :) I love my class!

I still do not know exactly what it is that I will be doing in the future, and I've learned to not trust my fleeting and ever-changing desires... But I praise God knowing that He has provided me with a purpose so that whatever my disposition might be in this life, I have every reason to sing! Oh for my heart to truly cry for a disposition in which Christ might be magnified and myself humbled -- a disposition devoid of any joy found in physical or earthly comfort but only the eternal comfort of knowing Christ! :)

I have decided to revive my blog for the sake of chronicling God's faithfulness in my life, remembering the last of my undergraduate adventures, and learning to be thankful always in whatever season, whatever disposition. I hope to look back at my last year of college and be humbled at the foot of the cross knowing that it was Christ alone who sustained and is Christ alone who sustains!

Class of 2013! It'll be my class next year. Thankful for Berean family :)

Freshman year -- CCM senior banquet!